October
by Wax Angel Wings
Summary: House versus Seven of nine in this unlikely crossover of House with Voyager. Mostly a Cuddy story though. I don't know who will read this but reviews feed my tortured soul. Huddy in the end I PROMISE!
1. When a stranger calls

October

October

Part 1: When a stranger calls

Author's note: Okay so I know that no one is going to read this whether I post it under House or Voyager or even in the crossover section. Why do I write it then? Cause my friend Ron said he was going to read it, HI RON! Anyway I'll be posting it in spite of the fact that it will get no reviews. I mean how many people watch Voyager that also watch House? 1, and that's me! LoL! ENJOY!

It was a dark and rainy day in October, although Cuddy wouldn't have said it was rain, more like the clouds split open and cascaded a waterfall down onto the earth. It was far past the time for her to go home but she was trying to wait out the rain. Of course she had an umbrella and could dart to her car but even an umbrella wouldn't be enough protection in this downpour, that and it was freezing cold outside. It wasn't cold enough to be snow, but it wasn't hot enough for the rain to be the least bit refreshing. Cuddy was standing by the door, with all of her stuff, shifting from foot to foot, trying to convince herself to make a mad dash for her car. At this point she didn't want to run into House because he would probably make some sort of smart-aleck comment about wet t-shirt contests and her breasts. She looked at her watch, it was an hour past the time she was supposed to leave and the rain showed no sign of stopping. She rolled her eyes slightly and then opened the door and stuck her umbrella outside and opened that too. She stepped under the flimsy thing and started to run for her car. She had a good parking spot, being the administrator and all, but that didn't mean she was going to get less wet.

Her shoes splashed into a puddle as she stepped off of the curb and she cursed her luck. Now her feet were soaking. Her breath came out in white, frosty bursts, as she finally made it to her car. She was getting ready to open the door when she noticed a foot clad in a purple high heel sticking out on the other side of her car. Whoever was there was lying on the cold pavement and not moving. She forgot about the door, and the rain, for a moment and walked over to the other side of her car. There, lay a woman in a skintight bodysuit and apparently had metal attached to her face and her hand, everything else was covered by the suit. The woman was absolutely soaked and when Cuddy reached up to take her pulse she noticed that her skin was almost freezing.

"I NEED SOME HELP OUT HERE!" She called just as thunder clapped overhead. She realized that she was actually going to have to go back inside to get some help. She looked around and saw no one, but she didn't want to leave the mystery woman. Still holding the almost useless umbrella over her head she reached into her pocket and pulled her cell phone. She called the front desk of the clinic and about a minute later she was met with help. She was only hoping that she wasn't too late.

After the mystery woman was safely in the hospital, Cuddy went into her office to find clothes that were dry. She always kept a second outfit in her office just incase something were to happen during the day to ruin her current outfit. She was pretty much soaked from the rain and wanted to get into something dry before going to check on the woman that she had found. She grabbed a t-shirt and jeans, not the most professional of outfits, and went into the bathroom to get changed. Once she was in dry clothes she felt a million times better. After that she made a few calls to find out where her Jane Doe had gone, and then headed for her room. She was just in a regular room where they had blankets on her and were pushing warm fluids; the woman was hypothermic when she came in.

Cuddy slid the door open slowly and stepped inside closing the door behind her. She went to the edge of the bed, where the woman was still out cold, and picked up the chart. It said that she had a minor head injury and would not be going for any kind of scans because of the metal implants in her body. The woman had been changed into a hospital gown, where her bodysuit was, Cuddy had no idea, but most likely they had to cut her out of it. She set the chart back down and looked at the woman's vitals, they all seemed normal and her body temperature was rising slowly to where it was supposed to be.

She noticed a small emblem on the bedside table, it must have come in with the woman and appeared to be her only belongings. Cuddy walked over to it and picked it up and looked at it. With the woman completely out like she was, someone could come in and steal the emblem, and it looked expensive, so Cuddy put it in her back pocket. She pulled up a chair and sat down in it, taking the woman's hand into her own. It was the normal hand she was holding, not the one with all of the metal on it, she didn't want to know what that metal was.

The chart had said something about metal implants all over her body, not just the ones on her face and her hand. Cuddy wondered if this was some new trend of body modification, if so it looked painful. She wondered then if the implants were for some other reason, but what would they be for, and why? She sighed gently. She knew that she was going to get House on this case but she didn't know why. She didn't have any weird symptoms per-say but she did have strange metal implants and Cuddy wanted to figure out what exactly they were for. She wondered if she should call House and his team right away or if she should at least wait for the woman to wake up.

"Captain?" The woman said and then stirred slightly. Cuddy looked up in time to see the woman open her eyes and look around. She became startled and sat up quickly before trying to pull the IV out of her arm. Cuddy gently put her hand over the needle before the woman could get to it and tried to calm her down.

"Relax, you're in the hospital." Cuddy said softly. The woman's eyes went wide and she looked at Cuddy like she couldn't believe the words she was saying. "What's your name?"

"Where am I?" The woman asked slowly, Cuddy wondered if she had heard her when she said that she was in the hospital.

"The hospital I—"

"I heard that, I want a location." The woman outright demanded.

"Princeton Plainsboro teaching hospital, New Jersey." Cuddy said slowly wondering why it was important. The woman looked at her and her eyes got even wider. She moved her legs to the side of the bed and quickly tried to stand up before getting dizzy and sitting back down. She brought a hand to her head and groaned softly.

"Where did you find me?" She asked and then lay back down. Cuddy looked at the monitor and checked the woman's vitals, her heart rate was a bit faster but other then that she was fine.

"You were outside, in the rain, on the ground. I had to get you back in here before you succumbed to hypothermia." Cuddy replied not understanding the reason why the woman was stressed, "I'm Dr. Lisa Cuddy, what's your name?" The woman looked at her skeptically for a moment. She looked like she was hesitant to reveal her name.

"Seven Of Nine, you may call me Seven." She replied after a pregnant pause. "You're a doctor?"

"Yes, and I'd like you to stay here a little longer so we can monitor you. You have a nice lump on the back of your head." Cuddy said, "Are you sure your name is Seven Of Nine?"

"Why would I be unsure of that fact?" Seven asked slowly.

"Just seems like an odd name to me." Cuddy said thinking that the bump to the head might have jostled her thought process.

"But it is my name." Seven said and then folded her arms over her chest, "Where are my clothes?" Cuddy instinctively looked for the bag of Seven's belongings under her bed but there was nothing there, she then assumed that what Seven was wearing had been scrapped once it was taken off of her body.

"They had to cut you out of the clothes you were wearing, I can get you new clothes, but you are far from being able to leave here." Cuddy tried to explain to her. Seven didn't seem to like this answer, Cuddy could tell by the look in her eyes but other then that her face remained stone cold and mean like it had been since she woke up. "I'll leave you to get some sleep, I'll be back in the morning."

"I do not require sleep." Seven informed her as-a-matter-of-factly. Cuddy was getting just a tad bit irritated with this Seven woman, she wanted to help her but she didn't seem like she wanted any sort of help.

"Well then watch TV. I'll let you know your prognosis in the morning." Cuddy replied as she motioned to the TV that was up on the wall across from the bed. Seven looked at the TV as if it was something that she had never seen before. Cuddy stood up and headed towards the door. When she got there she slid it open and then turned to look at Seven. She was willing to bet that this woman would have looked scared but she was almost like a robot…or…what if she _was _a robot? Cuddy shook that idea out of her head. Blood had been drawn from Seven so she knew that her being a robot was impossible, and even if she was one, where in the hell could she have possibly come from? Seven glared at her from the bed before pulling the blankets up over her and turning so she was lying on her side, back to Cuddy.

"Have a good night." Cuddy said and then left the room, shaking her head as she went. She was planning to go home. Chances were House would find out about this case in the morning, and she was sure even he wouldn't try to get out of this one. Seven was an interesting specimen to say the least. When she reached the elevator she turned back and went to the nurses station. "Hey Dana, make sure that woman doesn't leave her room."

"Sure, what's her name?" Dana, the nurse, replied as she looked towards the room that Cuddy was pointing at.

"She calls herself Seven Of Nine, whether that's her real name or not I don't know. Just keep her in there no matter what she says or does." Cuddy ordered. Dana nodded slightly and then went back to work. Feeling satisfied that Seven wasn't going to go anywhere Cuddy went back to the elevator and pushed the down button. Now she would finally be able to go home and get some sleep.

The next morning she came back into work feeling refreshed. The day was warm and there was absolutely no trace of rain clouds in the sky. Cuddy came into work with a smile on her face, which got bigger when she saw Seven's case file on her desk with a note that said: Attn House. Apparently House had not gotten the case yet, which would mean she was going to have to go and find him. She knew that currently he wasn't on a case and should be in the clinic, but she knew that he would be in the last place but. She walked out of her office while looking down at the chart and ran right into Cameron. She almost let a mean quip exit her lips when she actually saw who it was.

"Where's House?" She asked, dispensing with the pleasantries.

"He said he was going to be in the clinic but knowing him…" Cameron trailed off and Cuddy nodded at her.

"If you see him then tell him I got a case that needs his attention." Cuddy replied knowing that Cameron would be reliable, even though that did not mean House would listen to her. Cameron nodded and went off to do whatever it was she was doing before she ran into Cuddy. Now it was time to check all of the exam rooms to see if House was maybe asleep in one of them, or doing other things, it was always a surprise with him.

She got lucky, the third exam room she checked was where he was. He was asleep in a chair with his feet up and the lights turned off. She immediately turned on the lights, walked over to him, and dropped the file in his lap, "You got a new case." She said loudly, he groaned and opened one eye to look at her. Her hands were on her hips and she didn't look too happy. Little did he know she wanted to be a big part of this case so he wasn't going to be getting rid of her any time soon.

"Ah Cuddy I was just having the most delightful dream with you in it. You see there was this riding crop and you—"

"Cut it out and get your ass in gear." Cuddy ordered him not moving from her spot until he actually sat up and opened the case file. He read over it quickly and then looked at her as if she must be completely insane.

"She has no symptoms, deal with it yourself." He said and then shut the case file and held it out in her direction. She moved her hands from her hips and folded her arms over her chest defiantly.

"She has implants—"

"Lots of woman have implants how is that—"

"Metal implants, all over her body." Cuddy cut him off. He looked at her oddly and then took the file back and started to read it more thoroughly. "Her worst symptom is a minor concussion but I thought you'd like to see her for yourself and maybe come up with an explanation as to what the metal implants are."

"Have you thought about just _asking _her what the implants are for?" House countered. Cuddy let her head drop for a moment before picking it up and looking at him. She had thought of that, but considering the fact that the woman thought that her name was some sort of fraction she didn't think she would be getting a straight answer from her.

"Did you see what she said her name was? I don't think she would be giving us straight answers." Cuddy replied shortly, "Even if you don't want this case I know you are just dying to see what she looks like."

"That I am. Good call." House said and then stood up with his cane and started to head out of the exam room. Even if he didn't take this case he would use any excuse to get out of clinic duty, not that he was actually doing clinic duty in the first place.

When they got up to the room that Seven of Nine was in, she was pacing back and fourth like a caged animal. She was only in her gown and bare feet but she looked a hundred times better then what she looked like when she had been brought in the day before. She had taken the IV needle out of her arm and there was a bandage over it, so obviously a nurse had been in to see her. Security was parked right outside of the door and was not letting her leave, Cuddy was glad that her orders still stood. House got a glimpse of Seven through the glass window and a smile spread across his face.

"What is she? A robot?" He asked rather loudly as they approached the door to the room. Cuddy was not going to give him the satisfaction of knowing that she had thought the exact same thing the day before.

"Not possible. They took her blood upon admission." Cuddy responded and then slid the door open slowly. Seven turned to look at them and quickly advanced on Cuddy like she was about to strangle her. Cuddy, in turn, backed up and rammed into House who rudely pushed her forward again.

"Maybe it was robot blood." House said to her, not taking his eyes off of the amazing beauty in front of him. Cuddy rolled her eyes and turned her head to look at House. He looked at her quickly and smiled before his attention was brought back to Seven. "I'm doctor House I—"

"I do not require a doctor. I request to leave this hospital." Seven said, interrupting him. She inched closer to Cuddy, "I demand you release me."

"You're not a prisoner but I would like to know where you intend to go seeing as how your body shows signs of abuse and—"

"Abuse? I am not abused. I cannot stay here without violating a myriad of laws." Seven said and then looked House over just as he was looking her over, "What do you want with me?"

"Just here for a consult. So, Sevvy, are you a robot?" House asked and then was met with a glare from Cuddy. He just smiled at her and shrugged innocently, she didn't like him outright asking her that and he was pretty sure that she didn't want to be called "Sevvy". Seven looked at him like he was completely insane, and more then pissed with him at the same time.

"My name is Seven, and for the final time, I am NOT a robot." Seven said sternly. House nodded slightly and then approached her. He was a bit taller then her but the presents she gave off made her seem to be over six feet tall herself. They both stood there, locked in a glare, and he reached out and touched the metal implant above her eye. She retaliated by punching him in the face. He fell backwards and onto the floor, completely knocked out. Cuddy barely had time to gasp in surprise before getting down next to House on the floor.

"You knocked him out!" Cuddy cried, "He barely touched you."

"I do not like to be touched." Seven replied coldly, "When I was brought in, was there a badge with me?" Cuddy was trying to revive House while she thought about that little nugget of information. She had all but forgotten about the metal emblem that she had taken and put in her desk the night before. She shook House a few more times and finally managed to rouse him. He opened his eyes and a hand went to his left eye where he had been punched.

"Wow you really pack a wallop." House said and then slowly got to his feet. Seven looked at him with the same stone cold expression. "Remind me not to touch you again without permission."

"Duly noted. Where is my badge?" Seven said, it didn't seem like she even cared that she had just assaulted House.

"Go get some ice, House." Cuddy said to him and he got a weird smile on his face. Cuddy couldn't tell if he was mad at Seven for knocking him down or if he was just way more intrigued by that fact. "I have your badge, it's in my desk. Give me a moment to go get it."

"I'll stay here and watch her." House offered quickly.

"No, you need to go get an ice pack." Cuddy replied and then grabbed House's arm and started to pull him out of the room. Seven sat back down on her bed and looked out of the window. The gown she was wearing showed an implant that was in her arm. Cuddy slid the door shut and then turned to House. "You can see her all you want after you get some ice on your face."

"Thanks, MOM." House said and then hurried off to get an ice pack for his eye. Cuddy took in a deep breath and let it out as a sigh. She took one looked back at Seven before walking towards the elevator so she could go to her office and get the badge that Seven was talking about. She had put it in her top desk drawer. She guessed she shouldn't have moved it but she was afraid it was important and might get stolen if she just left it out like it was.

Once she got to her office she immediately went to her desk and pulled the badge out and clutched it tightly in her hand. As she was turning to leave, the badge spoke to her. "Janeway to Seven." It said. She stopped dead in her tracks and looked at it. Obviously this was some sort of communicator, someone named Janeway was trying to reach Seven.

"Hello?" She said slowly as she looked at the badge. There was no answer. She rolled her eyes feeling stupid for talking to no one. She was about to turn and leave again when things got blurry and went dark, just for a split second. She blinked, trying to clear her vision, and all of a sudden she was somewhere else, somewhere that was not the hospital. In fact the room looked space-aged, futuristic, something that she had never seen before. She turned her head to see a woman standing across from her behind a computer consol. Along with her, she was wearing red and black, was a woman in yellow and black that had the most bizarre forehead that Cuddy had ever seen.

"Transporters are offline again." The woman with the forehead ridges said, "And that's not Seven Of Nine." The dark blond women looked at Cuddy and then back to her colleague. She looked surprised and a little worried. After another moment she stepped down from behind the computer consol and approached Cuddy.

"Looks like we have some explaining to do." The woman said and then held out her hand for Cuddy to shake, "I'm captain Kathryn Janeway and you are now aboard the star ship Voyager."

"Star ship? As in, space?" Cuddy asked slowly and looked around. Sure she didn't know how she had gotten to this room, or where it was, but it was hard for her to believe that she was now in space and not on earth. She nervously shook Janeway's hand as she stepped off of the transporter pad. "No way, I don't believe it." Or maybe she did sort of believe it, they were obviously trying to get to Seven and if she came from outer space then that might explain exactly why she was as she was.

"I know it's hard to believe but—"

"Prove it to me. Prove that I am in space." Cuddy cut Janeway off. Janeway looked at her and then to the woman with the odd forehead.

"Alright, but it would help if I knew your name." Janeway said to her. Cuddy felt stupid that through all of this she hadn't once revealed her name. She smiled sheepishly and looked at Janeway apologetically.

"Dr. Lisa Cuddy." She said, "Nice to meet you I suppose."

"B'Elanna, I'm going to show her around notify me as soon as transporters are back online." Janeway said to the other woman in the room that Cuddy now knew as B'Elanna. She had never heard that name before in her life and to her it sounded exotic in a way. She offered B'Elanna a small smile but the woman didn't seem to notice.

"Captain it could be a number of hours before—"

"Just make it happen. This way Dr. Cuddy." Janeway said and then started to lead Cuddy out of the transporter room. Suddenly the whole place shook, not violently but definitely enough to be noticed. Janeway turned to look at B'Elanna, obviously wanting some sort of explanation.

"I don't know how to explain it but we are back in the delta quadrant, in the correct time frame…" B'Elanna said, trailing off her train of thought when she saw the look on Cuddy's face. Janeway didn't look to happy about this revelation.

"What time period are you from? Are you going to tell me that we somehow went into the future?" Cuddy asked, directing the question at both women in the room. Janeway went up to the control panel where B'Elanna was standing and started to push a few buttons looking over information like it was complete Greek to her.

"Well, Dr. Cuddy, welcome to the 24th century." Janeway said slowly. Cuddy's eyes went wide and she stumbled back until she hit a wall. There she tried to steady herself, it didn't seem like these people were joking around. Either she really was on a spaceship in the 24th century or these people _believed _they were on a starship in the 24th century. She was still unclear how she had even gotten there, and now she was supposedly three hundred years in the future?

"No, I don't believe this. Did House put you up to this?" The only thing her brain was telling her was that this was an elaborate practical joke orchestrated by House. She didn't know why but that was way easier to believe that House was behind this.

"How are we going to get Seven back?" Janeway asked B'Elanna, ignoring the fact that Cuddy was going into panic mode.

"WHO CARES ABOUT YOUR DAMN ROBOT?! WHERE THE FUCK AM I?" Cuddy screamed in an outburst that was entirely out of character for her. She guessed normally she would have remained rational but now she was faced with the fact that she might be in the future, which meant a search party had long since given up on her and she didn't exist on earth any longer. Now she was on some starship in a place called the delta quadrant, it wasn't sitting well with her. Janeway looked at her and came down from the consol and put her hands on Cuddy's shoulders.

"Hey, it's okay calm down. We are going to get you back, I don't know how yet but we will. I just need to know, was Seven safe where you left her?" Janeway asked her. Cuddy took in a few deep breaths and let them out slowly. Seven would be safe in House's hands, she highly doubted there was anything House could do to her to make her unsafe. There was probably no way House was going to let her out of his sight either. She was a medical mystery.

"Seven is fine I left her with one of my best doctors." Cuddy replied. "Is she a robot?"

"No she's not a robot, I'll explain everything to you in due time. Now, how about a cup of coffee or something?" Janeway offered. Cuddy was thinking she was going to need something a lot stronger then coffee to calm her down, but it might be nice to actually just sit down and talk things through. She was still convinced that Seven was some sort of robot, even though they had drawn blood from her when she arrived. There really was no other way to logically explain the metal that littered Seven's body. Slowly she nodded and Janeway took her arm gently and led her out of the room.


	2. Aliens and Holodecks

October

October

Part 2: Aliens and Holodecks

They walked down some corridors that looked like they could be in a spaceship and headed towards a thing that Janeway called a turbo-lift. She explained that it was like an elevator and could take you to just about anywhere on the ship that you wanted to go. Cuddy was in complete awe, and though she listened to everything that Janeway was saying, she realized she probably wouldn't remember any of it when it came down to the wire. After a brief ride in the turbo-lift they exited and walked down a hallway, where they stopped at a pair of double doors. So far Cuddy had not seen any windows in the vessel but by the look of things she was guessing that she would indeed find out that they were in outer space.

"We're going into the mess-hall now. Be prepared because our chef is a Talaxian, his name is Neelix." Janeway said slowly. Cuddy arched an eyebrow, she had absolutely no idea what a Talaxian was, hell she had never even heard the _word _Talaxian.

"What's a Talaxian?" Cuddy asked softly and then the doors to the mess-hall opened. Taking Cuddy's arm again, Janeway led her inside. Behind the counter was the thing, man, whatever, that was probably Neelix. Cuddy's eyes went wide and she gently pulled away from Janeway and got closer to him. His skin was littered with spots, he had ears almost like a gerbil, and whiskers. She got as close to him as she possibly could without being rude, and just stared.

"Why hello, who are you?" Neelix asked her. Cuddy had barely realized that she was standing out compared to the rest of the crew. She was wearing a black pants suit with matching heels. Everyone else seemed to be in some sort of uniform, but none of that mattered now because she was looking at an alien.

"Oh my God." Cuddy said softly, she wanted nothing more then to reach out and touch him to see if he was actually real. Janeway quickly came up behind her and put a hand on her arm. "Are you real?"

"Neelix, this is Dr. Cuddy she's going to be a guest on our ship for a little while." Janeway said in a friendly tone of voice. Neelix smiled at Cuddy, showing the teeth of his race, and Cuddy sort of winced but it was barely noticeable. She looked at Janeway and then back to Neelix. "I thought you would be the perfect person to show her around. She's from, 2008." Janeway added the last part as if this would explain a lot, and to Neelix it obviously did.

"You can call me Lisa, it's okay." Cuddy said to the both of them, "We aren't in a hospital so no need for formalities."

"Well then Lisa, I'm going to leave you in Neelix's capable hands, I have some business to attend to." Janeway said and then Cuddy reached out and grabbed Janeway's arm and squeezed it slightly. Janeway put her hand on top of Cuddy's and offered her a soft smile, "It's okay, Neelix is our ambassador. I need to figure out how we are going to get you back you do agree that's important don't you?"

"Yes, very." Cuddy replied not liking the position she was in. She was getting the feeling that all eyes were on her, even though things in the mess hall seemed to be going like they normally would. She looked around at all of the crewmembers briefly and then back to Neelix. He certainly was an interesting looking creature. "Will I see you later?"

"Yes, we'll chat over coffee. I'll see you later." Janeway said and then Cuddy let go of her arm and let her walk away. She watched until the captain was completely out of the mess hall before turning back to Neelix. She had a million questions about the ship, the delta quadrant, and what in the hell kind of aliens she was going to meet while there. Neelix took off his apron and hung it up on a hook before approaching her. She still found herself wanting to touch his face, just to make sure that it wasn't an elaborate set of makeup.

"How about we start with a tour?" Neelix offered her. She smiled weakly and nodded her head slowly. If she was going to be stuck there then she at least wanted to know her way around the place. "You're a doctor, maybe you would like to see sickbay." He offered. Until that point she didn't even think about the kind of advanced medical technology they might have on the ship. Seeing it first hand would be one hell of a wonderful experience for her.

"That would be wonderful, Neelix." Cuddy said, brightening considerably at the idea that she was about to see things that no one else from her time would ever see.

"This way then." Neelix said and then started walking as he motioned for her to follow. Maybe things wouldn't be so bad after all. She wondered how good their doctor was, what he or she was like, if he or she was personable. Little did she know, she was about to be privy to a technology that did not yet exist on Earth.

Seven was still waiting for Cuddy to return with her comm.-badge, she sat on the edge of her bed wishing that she had something other then the hospital gown to wear. She was feeling completely fine, her head throbbed gently but she had been shot by phasers before, not to mention the things the Borg did to her in the past. She looked at the guard that was sitting by the door, he was dozing just slightly, or looked like he was but Seven didn't want to tempt fate. When Cuddy got back with her badge she could excuse herself into the restroom and ask to be transported back to Voyager. Little did she know the ship was already back in the right time and place.

From behind her, the sliding glass door opened, and a nurse in purple scrubs and white coat came into the room with a tray of food. Hearing the door open, Seven turned to look at the nurse, who nearly dropped her tray. Seven wondered why she was so startled but then soon realized that she was out of place in this time, hell she was out of place a lot of time in the 24th century, she told herself not to expect anything different from any of the people that now surrounded her. The nurse approached and set the tray of food down on the table that was positioned over Seven's bed. Her name tag said "Gina" in black letters against a white background.

"I brought you lunch." Gina said, still staring at the metal implant above Seven's eye. "Does it hurt?"

"Excuse me?" Seven asked, not exactly knowing what the nurse was referring to. She had had the implants so long that she didn't even notice them any more, even when she looked in the mirror they weren't off putting.

"That thing, on your face." Gina clarified. Seven brought her hand up to her eye and touched the metal and then brought it back down.

"No it does not." Seven finally said after another moment. The nurse looked at her like she was weird but then turned to leave, closing the door behind her. Seven sighed and pulled her legs up onto the bed and lifted the cover that was on the tray to see what had been brought for her. It was just a turkey sandwich with a container of orange juice tucked back on the corner of the tray. She picked up the juice container and opened it slowly and took a few gulps. Before she had ended up on this planet in this time frame she had been up for nearly 72 hours. Normally by this time, she would have been in regeneration, but because she was stuck on Earth that was impossible. She was starting to feel weak and dizzy, she thought if she got some sugar into her system it might perk her up. She wasn't hungry though, and even if she was she didn't think she wanted to eat that sandwich.

"How's the lunch?" The doctor known to her as House asked as he entered the room. One hand was holding the cane he was using to help him walk, and the other hand was holding an icepack to his eye. Seven got the feeling that he was only toting the icepack around because he wanted to show her that what she had done had actually hurt him. Either way, it wasn't affecting her in the least.

"Where is Dr. Cuddy?" Seven asked immediately. House looked around the room with a sarcastic interest as to where Cuddy was and then back to Seven.

"Probably in her office. What do you want with her?" House responded, lowering the icepack away from his face. Then his eyes got wider, for a brief moment, and settled back to their normal look, "She was supposed to get that badge for you, right. I'll go see if I can find her." He then turned and left her alone, for which she was glad. She didn't know what was taking Cuddy so long to get her comm.-badge but she silently wished the woman would hurry up.

"Here we go…this is sickbay." Neelix said as both him and Cuddy entered the room. Cuddy looked around, basically all she saw was three beds and an area that looked like an office. There was no doctor. Cuddy didn't really mind that there was no doctor, it would give her a chance to look over everything while Neelix talked. It wasn't like she didn't like Neelix but he had been going on and on about stuff that she really didn't care about. Well it wasn't that she didn't care, it was just she was so excited at the prospect of seeing a futuristic hospital that she wasn't really paying attention, also his voice was sort of annoying but she would still rather deal with Neelix then with House.

"Where's the doctor?" Cuddy asked after walking over to the nearest bed and running her hands over it gently. She pressed down on the bed and then turned around and sat down on it, letting her legs dangle over the side.

"Good question." Neelix said, "Computer locate the doctor."

"The EMH is currently offline." The computer chirped a millisecond later. Cuddy was amazed, of course Neelix had already told her about the computer systems, and she knew the turbo-lift was voice activated, but she hadn't heard the computer respond yet. The voice was nice, not at all mechanical, she also didn't know that the computer would have been keeping track as to where everyone on the ship was. She barely caught the phrase "EMH" thinking that it was just a futuristic term for calling someone "doctor".

"Computer activate EMH." Neelix said and then out of nowhere a man appeared. It was so out of nowhere that Cuddy had just convinced herself that she blinked and he came out of a magic hole, or had been transported in, who knew? This was the 24th century.

"Please state the nature of the medical emergency." "The doctor said and then turned to Neelix, "Mr. Neelix how can I help—" The doctor said and then noticed Cuddy, "Hello, who are you?" He said to her, completely ignoring Neelix now. Neelix didn't seem to mind, Cuddy guessed that he probably got ignored more then he got paid attention to anyway.

"Dr. Lisa Cuddy, where did you come from?" Cuddy asked and then got off of the bed and held out her hand for him to shake. He took her hand in his and shook it firmly with a smile on his face, even though he looked quite annoyed and slightly bothered by her presents.

"What do you mean, "where did I come from" where did _you _come from?" The doctor asked her and she smiled slightly.

"Well you just appeared out of nowhere, is there like a secret compartment or something?" Cuddy replied and then looked at Neelix. She got a feeling that even if this doctor didn't explain to her where exactly he came from Neelix wouldn't hesitate to.

"Dr. Cuddy he's a hologram." Neelix said to her and then turned to the doctor, "Doctor, Dr. Cuddy is a visitor on the ship for a while, she's from the 21st century." The doctor then gave Cuddy a look like it explained a lot, Cuddy on the other hand was confused that the doctor was a hologram.

"A hologram, a configuration of lights? I just touched him, he's not a hologram." Cuddy said and then went to touch the doctor again and her hand went through him. She seemed perplexed by this and started swinging her hand back and fourth, going through him each time. Finally the doctor had enough of that and grabbed her hand.

"That's enough." He said and she looked at him with one eyebrow arched.

"I don't get it." Cuddy said and then gently pulled her hand out of the doctor's grasp, "What's your name?"

"Doctor." He replied

"Doctor what?" Cuddy quickly responded and the doctor let out an aggravated sigh.

"We just call him Doctor." Neelix interjected. Cuddy turned to look at him, and despite the fact that she had already spent some time with Neelix she still wasn't getting used to his odd appearance. She forced a smile that she hoped didn't look to forced and turned back to the doctor.

"So what do you have here that'll amaze me?" Cuddy asked and then went over to a tray of stuff and started to poke around. The doctor came up behind her and grabbed her wrist to keep her from touching everything.

"I just got that stuff organized. Maybe Mr. Neelix would want to show you the holodeck." The doctor offered and then glared in Neelix's direction. Cuddy didn't take her eyes off of the tray in front of her. She picked up an item and then held it up, but out of the doctor's reach.

"What's this thing?" She asked.

"A hypospray." The doctor replied and then quickly reached and snatched it out of Cuddy's hand and put it back in its holder. "It's used to inject things into patients." Cuddy reached and tried to get the hypospray back but the doctor was taller then her and held it out of her reach.

"I'd like to see you use it." Cuddy said and then turned to Neelix, "Can he notify me when someone comes in here?" Neelix looked at the doctor, he was standing behind Cuddy and out of her sight so he was shaking his head no and making all sorts of hand gestures that said 'absolutely not'. Neelix smiled and then walked over to Cuddy.

"I'm sure the doctor would be happy to notify you the next time he is treating a patient." Neelix said and then walked over to Cuddy and took her arm, "In the mean time I'm sure you would be quite amazed by our holodeck."

"What's a holodeck? Is it anything like this guy?" Cuddy asked motioning to the doctor who just rolled his eyes and put the hypospray back on the tray.

"It's the most amazing place, you can choose any setting you want in there, act out stories, play games, read holo-novels. I'm sure you'd enjoy it." Neelix explained and then started to lead her out of sickbay. Cuddy was intrigued by this idea although it didn't explain as to what exactly a holodeck was. She assumed that she would be present if the doctor decided to treat anyone so she followed Neelix out into the hallway.

"So it's like virtual reality?"

"In a manner of speaking it is. It's best if I just show you what it's all about." Neelix said and they started to walk towards the turbo-lift. Cuddy smiled, she wasn't the type of person for video games but she was thinking that this holodeck thing was probably the 24th century version of a video game and she was more then willing to experience that.

"I just want to look at your eye, can I do that?" Cameron asked Seven, who was being none to helpful. Seven glared at her and turned away not really having anything to say at that point. Cameron was overly interested in Seven's implants and for the moment she had her alone so she wanted to take advantage of that. Cameron didn't know about the black eye Seven gave to House just minutes before. In fact, she had no idea where House was currently. "Just let me see your eye…" Cameron reached out to touch Seven when her hand was grabbed in a death grip and twisted to the side.

"Do not touch me." Seven growled at her and then let her hand go.

"Ow!" Cameron shouted and then shook her hand a bit to get the feeling back into it. Just then the door slid open and House made his appearance.

"You're lucky she didn't punch you." He said and Cameron's eyes went to his instantly, where she saw the black eye. It looked horribly painful, and she looked back at Seven, amazed that the woman was able to knock House down.

"You hit him?" She asked.

"He touched me." Seven replied coldly, "Where is Dr. Cuddy?" That was directed at House and for the moment he had no idea where Cuddy was. He had paged her twice, after looking in her office, and still she was a no show.

"I thought she'd be back up here with you, but that apparently isn't the case." House said to her. He had tossed the ice pack a few minutes ago and popped two vicodin so he was pretty much good to go. Seven looked at him like it was his fault that Cuddy had seemingly vanished into thin air.

"I need the badge that came in with me." Seven said her voice just as strong and defiant as ever.

"She'll be here, it's not like her to duck out of duty." House said and then walked over to her bed and leaned against the edge of it, "So, are you ever going to tell me what all that funky metal does to you?" He offered her a smile and it was almost cute in a sad puppy dog way. Seven knew that she couldn't just tell him what her implants were all about, she had to get back to Voyager, although that was looking less and less likely as time went by.

"I said I cannot tell you anything." Seven replied.

"She hasn't touched her food." Cameron leaned in and whispered to House, even though Seven appeared to hear what was said. House looked at the tray of food that was still sitting in front of Seven and then back to Cameron.

"Robots don't need to eat." House replied and then smiled brightly at Seven.

"I am not a robot." Seven said, "Would eating convince you that I am not robotic?" She then added. She reached to the tray of food and slowly picked up half of the sandwich and looked at it as if she had never seen one before.

"It would help." House said honestly. Seven shot him a glare and brought the sandwich up to her mouth and tried to take a bite. It was very quick but she missed the sandwich all together on the first try, but she got it on the second. Her motor skills were decreasing because she hadn't regenerated. She knew that her stamina and brain function would continue to deteriorate the longer she went without regeneration but there really was nothing she could do about it. House noticed that on her first try the sandwich didn't get anywhere near her mouth before she tried to bite, but because of the metal they couldn't send her for an MRI so he was going to have to work out what was wrong with her without the use of scans.

"It took you a moment to get that sandwich to your mouth." House said, as if Seven didn't notice this herself.

"I am fine, see? I am eating." Seven replied after chewing her food and swallowing it. She set the rest of the sandwich back on the tray and folded her arms over her chest. House didn't see her as fine, he saw her as someone with impaired brain function.

"Come on Cameron, help me find Cuddy." House said and then started to walk towards the door. Cameron wanted nothing more then to stay with Seven and learn more about the implants but House wasn't going to let her. She took one last look at Seven and sighed before walking out into the hall with House where he slid the door shut. House knew that somehow the badge Seven was asking for was important and he was going to have to find Cuddy and get that badge to her as soon as possible.

"Computer, who is in holodeck two?" Neelix asked as he and Cuddy stopped by a set of double doors. The doors looked normal, just like every other set of doors that they had stopped at before.

"Lieutenant Monica Edwards." The computer chirped, Neelix seemed pleased by this and he turned to look at Cuddy.

"Lt. Edwards is an expert on the 21st century, I'm sure she would be delighted to meet you." Neelix said and then tapped the badge on his chest to summon Lt. Edwards. Cuddy looked at the badge, it was a communication device and she had taken it away from Seven Of Nine cause she thought it looked expensive. It probably was worth more in the 21st century then it was in the 24th century, but Cuddy felt bad taking one without permission. When she was beamed aboard the ship she slipped the communicator into her pocket, she had forgotten about it until right that moment. Suddenly the doors to the holodeck opened and a young woman in a black bikini stood there. She raised her sunglasses and looked at Neelix. Cuddy on the other hand was looking into the holodeck.

Inside it was like earth, a white sand beach, an ocean and a towel set up with an umbrella over it to create shade. Cuddy could smell the beach, she could hear the waves, and she was pretty sure if she were to step inside she would feel the sand too. It was absolutely amazing, like nothing she had ever seen before, it was way more then virtual reality, it was exactly reality. Without a word she stepped passed Lt. Edwards and onto the sand. It felt like sand all right, she could feel its movement under the soles of her heels. Not twenty feet away was the ocean, and she suddenly felt like stripping naked and just jumping in, of course she couldn't, but it didn't stop her from feeling that way. She turned back to the lieutenant and Neelix.

"How is this possible? How?" She asked motioning to the sand and the water and the sky.

"Would you mind showing Dr. Cuddy around? I have dinner to get started." Neelix said in his overly happy tone. Lt. Edwards smiled brightly.

"You're from the 21st century?" Edwards asked her and she nodded her head slowly. Apparently Neelix and Monica had an entire conversation while she was zoned out looking at the holodeck. If only they had this technology on earth _now _someone could be making a fortune off of it. "You can call me Monica." Then she held out her hand for Cuddy to shake.

"Nice to meet you, call me Lisa." Cuddy replied as she took the lieutenant's hand and shook it.

"I'll see you at dinner then, Lisa." Neelix said, he waved goodbye to the both of them and headed off down the hallway. Monica let out what seemed to be a sigh of relief that Neelix was gone. If Neelix annoyed her too, they already had something in common.

"Well come on in, I was just running my beaches of Hawaii program. I love this beach and it's the closest I'm going to get to being back home." Monica said and then stepped back into the holodeck. She was wearing black strappy sandals with a slight platform on them. As they got closer to the water, the doors behind them closed and vanished into thin air. Cuddy was a little startled by this and went to walk back to where the doors were, but was met with only more beach.

"What the…"

"It's a holodeck, you'll get used to it." Monica said and then sat down on her towel. Cuddy reached down and slipped off her shoes and sat down next to Monica. She was completely dumfounded by what she was seeing and how real it all was.

"I don't understand how any of this is possible. Wasn't I just on a space ship?" Cuddy asked as a seagull flew by and landed not three feet away from them. Monica shut the book she was reading and placed it on the edge of the towel. Cuddy then noticed that about a hundred feet away from them was a small bar erected where there were other people sipping drinks and talking. "Who are those people?"

"Holograms, just part of the program. Have you met our doctor? He's a hologram." Monica said and then raised her hand and snapped her fingers. The bartender seemed to notice this and started to come towards them, "This is all done with holo-emitters, they put a bunch of information together and voila, you have the beaches of Hawaii, or anything else you want."

"Can I help you, Monica?" The bartender guy asked he was quite attractive, tan skin, light blond hair and blue eyes. He was only wearing a pair of swim trunks that were red with random white flowers on them and his chest was well oiled and muscular. Cuddy suddenly felt over dressed in her business suit. He smiled at her and she blushed just slightly, he was only a hologram though, not real, she was going to have to keep telling herself that.

"I'll have a tequila sunrise." Monica said without so much as a second glance at the perfectly chiseled bartender. "What do you want?"

"I can have something?" Cuddy asked and then felt stupid for that response, "I'll have the same."

"Very good choice, Monica who's your friend?" The bartender asked and then reached and took Cuddy's hand in his and kissed it gently. Monica rolled her eyes and put her sunglasses back on.

"Her name is Lisa, could you have Mia bring the drinks over, I'd like to tell her something." Monica said and then laid back on the towel. Cuddy looked at her, she was positively gorgeous. Her hair was tied into a bun on the top of her head and it was raven black. Her eyes, which were now hidden by the sunglasses, were a bright green. Her facial features were perfect and her lips were full and just begging to be kissed. Cuddy actually felt attracted to her but not more so then the bartender who had just kissed her hand.

"Sure thing. You're drinks will be coming right up." The bartender said and then walked away. Monica sighed contently and then rolled onto her side to look at Cuddy. She brought her sunglasses up and rested them on top of her head.

"Mia is _way _hotter then Jake." Monica said as if that was an explanation, "So what year are you from?" Cuddy snapped out of her daze and tried to process the information, wasn't Mia a girls name? Cuddy then assumed that Monica was a lesbian, or bi, but to each there own, no harm done.

"2008." Cuddy said, "How are you an expert on the 21st century?"

"The same way Tom Paris is an expert of the 20th century, it's just something that entertains us." Monica replied. First of all, she didn't know who the hell Tom Paris was but she assumed that he was someone on the ship. Secondly, she didn't understand how a period of time could be entertaining, especially her period of time. Then again there were renaissance fairs and civil war reenactments, so she supposed it could be some of the same thing.

"Who's Tom Paris?" Cuddy asked as she noticed a woman with green spots trailing down her body approach them with a tray of drinks. She assumed this woman was some sort of alien hologram but Monica was right, she was very attractive.

"Oh you'll probably meet him once he finds out about you he'll be around." Monica said and then the woman in the purple bathing suit with the spots on her got down to serve them drinks. She handed one to Monica and one to Cuddy.

"You wanted to tell me something Monica?" The woman said and then brushed some of her dark black hair out of her face.

"Just that you are doing a wonderful job today, oh and looking hot as usual." Monica said, Mia smiled and then giggled a little before turning and walking back towards the bar. Monica took a sip of her drink and then set it down in the sand. Cuddy was expecting the drinks to be holographic too, but when she took a sip of hers it was exactly like a tequila sunrise, she was amazed.

"Wow this is amazing, it tastes just like a tequila sunrise." Cuddy said to Monica.

"Yeah, what were you expecting?" Monica asked and then picked up her drink and took another sip, "There's this thing on this ship called a replicator it can make anything you want whether it's food or clothes, or anything else you could ever want."

"Wow." Cuddy said and then took another sip of her drink. Just then Monica's comm.-badge beeped and she picked it up from the edge of the towel.

"Edwards here." She said.

"I understand you are with Dr. Cuddy, could you bring her to the conference room?" the voice said and Cuddy recognized it as Janeway's voice. Monica nodded her head slightly.

"We're on our way." She said and then stood up and grabbed a robe that was folded up on the edge of the towel. She put the robe on and offered her hand to Cuddy to help her up. Cuddy took it firmly and got up. Then she bent down and picked up her heels from the beach. "Computer end program." Monica said and a split second later the beach was replaced with a bland room, where doors were clearly visible. Cuddy blinked a few times trying to tell herself that she wasn't really on a beach, it was all a light show.

"That's disorienting." She said to Monica. Monica smiled at her.

"I'd say you'd get used to it but hopefully we'll get you back home before you do." Monica replied and then headed for the doors. Cuddy slipped on her shoes and started to follow Monica out into the corridors. They were going to the conference room, maybe the captain had figured out what happened and they were going to get her home. It was all she could hope for at that point.


	3. Killer Leola

October

October

Pat 3: Killer Leola

Author's Note: Thank you all who reviewed me, and also added me to your story alert list. It's taking me a while to do this but it will get done. I go on vacation a few days from now so there's going to be another delay. Sorry about that. Anyway, enjoy your new chapter!

Once they got to the conference room lieutenant Edwards was dismissed and Janeway motioned for a seat for Cuddy to sit in. There were other people there too, including Neelix. There was captain Janeway, she sat at the head of the table, then there was an Asian man, rather young looking, a black guy with pointy ears, a man with a tattoo over his eye, the woman she knew as B'Elanna, and a rather attractive guy with blond hair and blue eyes. She smiled at him first but she knew he was way too young for her, even if she had to stay there she wouldn't try anything. He smiled back at her for a moment before her eyes went to the man with pointy ears. She smiled at him too, but he didn't smile back, his expression remained stone cold, which caused her to pull into herself and stop smiling. She took a seat in the only empty chair and turned her gaze to Janeway.

Just before they had gone into the room, lieutenant Monica gave her a comm.-badge and told her that if she wanted to meet up again later just to tap it and say her name. Cuddy nodded even though she was sure when it came down to it, she wouldn't be able to remember how to use the communicator right anyway. "Am I going home?" Cuddy asked after realizing that she couldn't read the expression on Janeway's face. "As amazing as all of this is, someone needs to watch House, and I'm the best person for that."

"Dr. Cuddy—"

"Lisa, call me Lisa." Cuddy interrupted Janeway and then felt rude for doing so. Janeway offered her a smile and nodded her head.

"Lisa, we have run scan after scan and we still have yet to determine what made us jump back to the right place in the right time. We are going to continue to try and figure it out, but it's looking more and more likely that you will be with us for some time." Janeway explained to her gently. Cuddy felt like her heart had just dropped into her stomach. Some chattering started back and fourth across the room from person to person but she wasn't listening any more. How could she live there? She was completely alien to the technology, and who was going to watch House? What about Seven? What about House? What about her life? What about House? Her mind just kept bringing up House, why was he the most important thing to her at that point? She didn't even know.

"What about that robot woman? Seven or whatever?" Cuddy asked suddenly, interrupting the attractive man with the blond hair. "You have to get her back, House will go crazy trying to debunk her and I don't think she's going to be of much help."

"We understand that we can't just leave Seven where she is but as the captain said before, we don't have any idea what's going on here." The man with the tattoo above his eye said in a calm, almost monotone voice. Cuddy's hand went to her head for a moment and she closed her eyes, she felt like she was going to faint.

"I think I need to lay down." She said standing up swiftly, "Is there a place where I can just lie down and figure this all out?" Janeway looked at her.

"I can show you to your quarters if you want." Janeway said and then got up and took Cuddy's arm gently to steady her because she had started to look like she was going to fall over if she didn't get any help. Cuddy turned to look at her and smiled weakly.

"Yes, thank you, that would be good." Cuddy said and Janeway started to lead her out of the room slowly.

"Everyone else is dismissed." Janeway said to the rest of the crew, who all looked deeply frustrated that they couldn't figure out what was going on. They stepped out of the room and into the hallway, Cuddy felt tears start to prick at her eyes but she most certainly didn't feel comfortable crying in front of anyone. She rubbed her eyes quickly, to make sure there weren't any tears visible, and then looked at Janeway.

"Thank you for your hospitality." Cuddy said to Janeway softly.

"I'll personally do everything I can to make you comfortable." Janeway tried to reassure her, which made Cuddy want to cry even more. She couldn't even begin to fathom a life without her hospital, a life with out Cameron, Chase, Foreman, Wilson, and even House. At that point she just wanted to be left alone with her own thoughts. "Come on, this way." Janeway said and started to walk, letting go of Cuddy's arm. Cuddy followed her, for the moment it didn't look like things could get any worse.

House couldn't find Cuddy, no matter where he looked or whom he called she was nowhere to be found. He was beginning to feel a little panicky squirm in his chest; something had happened to her, he just knew it. If she didn't answer her pages or her cell phone then something must have gone terribly wrong. He was sitting in her office, using her phone trying to call her for the umpteenth time in ten minutes, when Cameron came in. He hung up the phone and looked at her.

"Did you find her?" House asked and then stood up hoping that the news was good. Cameron just shook her head gently and offered him a smile, even though it was a worried smile. House knew that whatever had happened to Cuddy, Cameron would turn it into a story about sunshine and puppies and he didn't really want to hear it right now, "Where the hell could she be?"

"I've asked around, no one seems to know where she is. I talked to a nurse outside who _swears _Cuddy went into her office and just never came out." Cameron explained. Usually House was good at deducing these situations but he had nothing to go on, it was like Cuddy had vanished into thin air. He sat back down and got a pouty expression on his face.

"Call the cops." He said to her with a stone cold expression of seriousness.

"She hasn't been missing for 24 hours, they won't take a missing person report unless they are gone for 24 hours." Cameron informed him, "Unless you have evidence that suggests she was kidnapped." She added as she tried to hold back a nervous chuckle. It wasn't that she didn't care but the thought of Cuddy being kidnapped in her own hospital almost seemed laughable. House sighed, he knew she was right, he put his head in his hands for a moment and then looked out of the glass doors. That's when he saw the security cameras.

"We need to see those tapes." He said suddenly and then got up from the chair and headed towards the front desk to find a security guard. Cameron, for the moment, had no idea what he was talking about but she followed him anyway. She had worked with House long enough to know when he had a theory she better damn well back him up on it. When she got out of the office she saw that House had already stopped a security guard and was badgering him about tapes. She still didn't quite get it when she noticed the security camera above the door to Cuddy's office. Of course, now they could see what happened to her, where she went after she left her office.

"I can't just show you the tapes there's a process and—"

"A woman is missing and you want to get into an argument with me?" House cut the guard off. The guard looked at him skeptically but then picked up his radio and called for his superior. Most likely they would now be taken to the security office to view the tapes. House was feeling annoyed that it was taking this long but any feeling other then the one in the pit of his stomach was better. He couldn't imagine what he would do without Cuddy and something obviously happened to her.

"Right this way then." The guard said and then started to walk towards the elevators. House looked at Cameron and then fell into step after the guy. Cameron shrugged slightly and followed the two of them. For the moment she forgot all about Seven Of Nine.

The doctor known to her as Chase was sitting in the room reading a magazine. Seven didn't know why he was there but she guessed that due to her decreasing brain function the doctor known as House wanted someone there to monitor her progress. Seven looked at Chase and then to the guard who was stationed outside of the door. The guard was armed and Seven wasn't about to try and get such a medieval weapon away from him, those things were known to have a hair trigger. Chase came in and tried to talk to her but she wouldn't engage in conversation, so he just gave up and went to reading a magazine. From the way House talked to Chase, Seven assumed that House didn't like him very much. Then again House was an ass to everyone but he seemed more of an ass to Chase.

"Can I…confide in you?" Seven said suddenly she was even surprised that the words came out of her mouth. Chase looked up from the magazine and shut it.

"Of course you can." Chase replied. She was planning on telling him all about who she was and where she was from. She figured the damage would be minimal because even if he decided to tell someone else who would believe him? And barring that, would he even believe her? He got up and walked over to her bed and sat down at the foot of it, "What is it?"

"My name is Seven Of Nine, I come from the star ship Voyager. As far as I can gather we just appeared here and I need to regenerate. If I do not get back to my ship, I could die." She said in a voice that was completely serious. Chase looked at her as if she just spoke Japanese. Deep down she knew he wouldn't believe her and that is exactly why she told him, at least now the truth was out there and she didn't feel so bad about holding back information.

"A star ship? Like as in, outer space?" Chase asked her looking nonplussed.

"That is correct." Seven replied. Chase blinked his eyes a few times, trying to comprehend this. If she _was _from outer space then that would explain a lot, especially the metal. She also said that if she didn't regenerate she could die, what was regenerate? Why did she need to regenerate? Maybe she was a robot like House had been saying all along.

"Are you a robot?" Chase asked seriously, he really wanted an answer. She gave him a look like she was not amused, she had answered that question a hundred times before lunch, why didn't anyone believe her when she said she wasn't a robot? "Look, I'm just trying to understand. If you aren't a robot then why would you need to regenerate?"

"I am Borg." Seven replied simply, as if that would explain everything. Chase looked at her once again like she had just spoken Japanese. "Components of my body are mechanical. I do not sleep, I regenerate. Without regeneration I will slowly lose motor functions until I die." Chase could not believe what he was hearing. What the hell was a Borg?

"A Borg?"

"Correct."

"Well this is some interesting information." Chase said to her. He desperately wanted to run an MRI now to see if she had something wrong with her brain, but the machine would rip all of the metal right out of her and cause a rather painful injury or even death. He wanted to run off and tell House what Seven just said, but who was going to believe him? Who would even listen past the words "star ship"? He realized that Seven only told him this while they were alone for a reason, it sounded completely crazy. "Is there something we can do to help you regenerate?"

"I do not believe this year possesses the correct technology for such a procedure." Seven replied, "That is why I need to get back to Voyager."

"Are you from the future?" Chase asked. He didn't know why but he was believing everything Seven was telling him, no matter how ridiculous it sounded. The story was too well put together and the metal that riddled her body was enough evidence to convince him.

"Correct. Do not tell Dr. House I told you this…." Seven trailed off and looked down at her hands, then back at Chase and forced a smile, "Please." Chase could tell that smiling wasn't something she did very often. In fact the smile looked so forced her felt sorry for her. She had done something uncomfortable and she didn't want to be exposed to House, he guessed her could understand that.

"Just give me a moment to think this all over." Chase replied and then got up and started to pace the room slowly. Seven watched him.

"The badge Dr. Cuddy was retrieving for me it will get me back to my ship. Find her and you can help me." Seven said after another moment of watching him pace. He stopped dead in his tracks and looked at her. All he would have to do now was find Cuddy, and pray to God that he didn't run into House because he might actually tell him what he just heard.

Cuddy was alone in her quarters on the star ship. She had everything explained to her, including the replicator, which she was still weary about using. She was laying on the bed provided for her and looking up at the ceiling. The lights were off and stars shone through the window above her head. She didn't know what she was going to do. She couldn't just stay there and do nothing something had to be done. She got out of the bed and walked over to the replicator and looked at it for a moment. She was sure the minute she tried to use it something would blow up. She was not used to any of this technology and she didn't want to break anything, but she really wanted some coffee.

"Computer coffee, hot?" She said ending the command as if it was a question. There was a shimmer of light and a mug of coffee appeared in the little alcove. She picked it up and took a sip, it tasted just like coffee to her, for which she was surprised. She had no idea how a replicator worked but that was something they should also have on earth in her time period. She sat back down on the bed and took another sip. The comm.-badge Monica had given her was sitting on the bedside table. She felt like she wanted to talk to someone but she also didn't know if she would be disturbing anyone with her petty problems.

She knew the crew was all in a tizzy about Seven Of Nine missing. She didn't know what time it was but she was beginning to feel hungry but she was more nervous then anything. The nervousness overrode the hunger for the time being, besides she could always replicate something else if it got too bad. She began to think about what House must be doing. Hopefully he was looking for her. She missed him dearly and it had only been a few hours without him. _Technically it's been 300 years without him._ She thought and then winced slightly. Right now on earth there was no House, no Chase or Cameron or Foreman, and probably no hospital. She didn't know what would come and go on earth in 300 plus years.

She wished she could tell House how she felt. How much her heart ached for him, and knowing that she would never see him again made her want to break down in tears. She took another sip of coffee and looked out of the window. All she saw was the vast emptiness of space and once again she was reminded of how this was not some elaborate practical joke, that she was in the future and thousands of light years away from earth. She set the coffee mug on the bedside table and then lay down with her head on the pillow. She closed her eyes and took in a deep breath but that didn't help, seconds later she burst into tears and had to bury her face in the pillow to keep it down. After a good five minutes of crying there was a ringing sound that was much like a doorbell.

"Come in?" She said slowly and the doors opened. The attractive man with blond hair and blue eyes was standing there in his red and black uniform. She still didn't know his name, she had gotten so flustered at the meeting with all of them there that she had forgotten to ask names. They all knew hers but she didn't know theirs.

"Dr. Cuddy. How are you doing?" He asked in a cheerful voice. She didn't like that he was so cheerful, if she was going to be miserable shouldn't everyone else be? She shook that thought out of her head and sat up. She quickly wiped her face and sniffed back a few more tears, trying to make herself look presentable to him.

"As well as can be expected I suppose." Cuddy replied, "Why are you here?"

"I was just on my way to the mess hall for dinner, I thought you'd maybe like to join me." He offered stepping more into her room. He had just read her mind. Now she could actually go and get food and talk with someone. "I'm Tom Paris."

"Call me Lisa." She said and then quickly wiped her eyes again, "What's the mess hall serving?"

"Leola root stew." Tom replied. Cuddy had never heard of leola root but she was willing to try it, despite the face Tom made when saying it. She reached down by the foot of the bed and grabbed her shoes and slipped them on.

"Sounds interesting." She said and then came towards him. "I wanted to ask someone, that woman, B'Elanna, what's with her forehead? I would have asked her but I don't think she would be very happy with me if I did." That was the truth, B'Elanna seemed busy and even a little hostile. The manner in which Cuddy had seen her address the captain spoke to that. Tom smiled brightly as they stepped into the hallway.

"She's my wife, and she's half Klingon." Tom replied. So he had a wife, now she really knew she couldn't try anything with him. She didn't know what a Klingon was, she assumed it was some sort of alien.

"What's a—"

"Klingon? They are very interesting. Their whole culture is based on a warrior mentality. She's only half, but it was a good decision not to ask her about it." Tom said with a bit of laughter, which made Cuddy smile. They headed off to the mess hall together, as Tom tried to explain to her about all the different aliens he could think of. When he got to something called a Vulcan, they entered the mess hall and once again Cuddy noticed how differently she was dressed compared to the rest of the crew. Then she saw Neelix and sighed gently, she forgot that he was the chef.

"So the man I saw, with the pointy ears, he's a Vulcan?" Cuddy asked as they reached the counter and Tom handed her a bowl of stew. She looked at it trying not to make a disgusted face. It didn't smell particularly good or even look good. When she saw the look of _almost _disgust on Tom's face she nearly broke out into a fit of laughter. They found an empty table and sat down.

"Yeah, Vulcans don't show any emotions. They take some getting used to. Much like the Borg but without all the implants." Tom said looking down at his food like he wished there was something else that he could eat. Cuddy was beginning to wish this too and wondered if she should have replicated something to eat before Tom came to get her. Cuddy leaned in slightly and dropped her voice.

"You've eaten this before?" She said and he laughed softly.

"When replicator rations run out there's little else you can eat." Tom replied and took a spoonful of the soup and put it in his mouth after blowing on it a little first. Cuddy took in a deep breath and let it out as a sigh. She really did want to try new things and this alien plant called leola root was probably like nothing she had ever tasted. She took a spoonful and blew on it for a moment before placing it in her mouth. It didn't taste too bad and the texture was all wrong but she swallowed anyway. Suddenly it felt like her throat got tighter and she was gasping for air. Tom looked at her weird but she knew she was going into anaphylactic shock. She was obviously allergic to the leola root, or whatever else was in the stew that she had never heard of. She signaled to Tom that she was about to faint, and then fell from her chair and onto the floor, blacking out completely.

"Wait rewind that part." House ordered the guy who was playing the security tapes for them. He was watching the view from the camera that was set up right outside Cuddy's office door. Since the doors were mostly glass he could partly see into the office. What he saw amazed him, he had seen it twice already and still it wasn't registering in his brain what it was he was seeing. It seemed that Cuddy had gone into the office and behind her desk. As she was walking to exit the office she stopped for a moment, then there was a weird blue shimmer and she was completely gone. The guard didn't seem to intrigued, in fact he wasn't really even watching. "There, did you see that?"

"See what?" The guard asked, annoyed.

"That blue shimmer, I saw it too." Cameron said pointing at the screen. She was now starting to believe the nurse that said that Cuddy had gone into her office and just never came out. The footage was rewound for a fourth time and played through again. This time the guard watched and saw what they were seeing. House suddenly got up from his chair and without a word he walked out of the room. Cameron followed right after him, wondering exactly where he was going to go.

"That robot knows about this." House said as he walked, not turning to face Cameron.

"I don't think she's a robot, she said that—"

"Okay robot or not she knows." House snapped back at her. She took in a deep breath and let it out as a sigh. She followed House all the way to Seven's room, Chase had already left to find Cuddy he didn't know that Cuddy had magically vanished. "What'd you do with Cuddy."

"I did nothing with Cuddy, I need her here." Seven replied in the same monotone voice that she always had. She didn't seem to know anything, yet she also didn't seem surprised that Cuddy was gone, no emotion either way and it was bugging House because he wanted some sort of reaction out of her other then apathy. "Do you have reason to believe she's missing?"

"Cut the bullshit Seven." House snapped back at her, and she still didn't react. He wanted to wrap his hands around her neck and start choking her. He knew that wouldn't help but it sure would make him feel better in the meantime. "We saw her just vanish into thin air, she was looking for _your _badge when it happened so I know you're behind this." Seven's eyes got wide, like everything was just clarified for her, but an instant later they went back to their normal position.

"I do not know what happened to her." Seven said, her voice not wavering. House came over to her bed and stared her right in the eye. There they were, locked in a glare, neither of them wanted to give in but they weren't saying anything, it was a battle of wills.

"Where'd Chase go?" Cameron said noticing that Chase was not in there like he was supposed to be. House and Seven did not change their expressions or their locked eyes. Cameron sighed and walked over to House and took his arm gently. He pulled it away quickly and then turned to look at her.

"Can't you see I'm busy?" He snapped at her. Cameron didn't exactly know what he was busy with, a staring contest? All this time could be used to actually find Cuddy.

"Chase is gone." Cameron said to him. He looked around, noticed that Chase was not in the room and then back to her.

"Do I look like I fucking care where Chase is? She did something to Cuddy and I'm not leaving until she tells me what." House snapped back at Cameron. Cameron decided that House was going to be stubborn, as always so she would have to find Chase on her own. The thought crossed her mind that Chase knew something or else he wouldn't have left, she figured if she found Chase maybe more would be explained to her. She decided to leave House to stare at the not so helpless Seven of Nine to find Chase.

When Cuddy woke up she was laying on a bed in sickbay. A moment later the doctor took one of those things called a hypospray and injected something into her neck. It hurt, a little, not nearly as much as a needle would have, and she quickly sat up and looked around. "Hey lie down, you almost died there." The doctor said to her. She knew that if anaphylactic shock was treated quickly then she would be fine, and seeing how she was in the future she knew that she wasn't going to die from a food allergy any time soon. She gave the doctor a look and then slowly lay back down to make him happy.

"What happened?" She asked whatever was in that hypospray was not epinephrine because she didn't feel overly jittery like she had just drank too much caffeine. She also knew what had happened, what she was really asking was what she was allergic to in that stew.

"You seem to be quite allergic to leola root." The doctor said and Cuddy turned her head to see Tom Paris standing there. She smiled at him and he smiled back.

"Looks like you have a good excuse to use the replicator." Tom said to her, "Don't scare us like that again though." Cuddy let out a chuckle and sat up more slowly this time. She swung her legs over the side of the bed and slowly got to her feet.

"Maybe you should take her back to her quarters Mr. Paris, she should get some rest." The doctor said and Tom nodded. Cuddy didn't feel like resting, and amazingly enough her appetite was coming back. What ever they had to treat allergies in the 24th century was completely awesome.

"I'll do that. Come on Lisa." Tom said and then turned to leave, she followed behind him with a smile. That was the first time anyone on the ship hadn't addressed her as Dr. Cuddy. She didn't mind the formality when it was the captain talking to her but everyone else should call her Lisa it would make her feel as though she was among friends and not colleagues. Just as they were exiting sickbay Neelix came around the corner looking flustered and Cuddy resisted the urge to roll her eyes. She just had a major health episode and she was not looking forward to hearing him talk.

"Lisa, is everything okay?" He asked stopping in front of her. She forced a smile and hoped that it didn't look forced.

"I'm sorry for the scare Neelix, it just seems that I am allergic to leola root." Cuddy said to him.

"Oh my, well I could make you something else if—"

"The doctor just prescribed bed rest for her Neelix but I'm sure she'll join us all in the morning for breakfast." Tom interrupted Neelix and for that Cuddy was glad. She looked at Tom and smiled, a genuine smile this time.

"Oh okay then, feel better." Neelix said to her and then turned to leave looking much more relaxed then he had when he came around the corner. When he was gone Cuddy turned to look at Tom.

"Thank you _so _much." She said and then laughed. Tom laughed too.

"Come on lets get you back to your room." He said and she nodded slowly. As they started to walk she noticed that for the first time in a few hours she wasn't even thinking about House, but that was soon to change.


End file.
